Los Angeles Lakers star LeBhttps://twitter.com/awfulannouncing/status/1762507709218242891ron James has been very public in his support of his son, Bronny James throughout his freshman season at USC. But according to ESPN personality Shannon Sharpe, he could be doing more harm than good each time he publically defends his son on social media.
Bronny has notably had a slow start to his collegiate career in his freshman season on a struggling USC team, averaging just 5.5 points along with 2.8 rebounds and 2.5 assists while playing 20.2 minutes per game. This has obviously put his status for potentially entering the 2024 NBA Draft into question.
This led to a now-deleted tweet from LeBron James that is seemingly targeted at everyone worried about predicting whether or not his son will be declaring for the upcoming NBA Draft.
“Can y’all please just let the kid be a kid and enjoy college basketball,” James wrote. “The work and results will ultimately do the talking no matter what he decides to do. If y’all don’t know he doesn’t care what a mock draft says, he just WORKS! Earned Not Given!”
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It’s obviously understandable that LeBron would be standing up for Bronny. But could it potentially be causing Bronny to receive even more criticism than he would without his dad’s input?
Shannon Sharpe and Chad Johnson discussed LeBron’s deleted tweet on Monday’s edition of Nightcap, saying that Bronny is “catching strays” simply because of LeBron’s previous high praise of his son.
“Look, the comparison was going to be there,” said Sharpe. “But where LeBron needs to be careful is when Bronny plays well and you say that he is better than some players in the NBA. People are going to remember you said that. That’s what you have to be careful of. He is supposed to say that of his son. But you have to be careful of that. LeBron has to understand. He is gonna catch strays because of you. Let him develop, he is gonna be what he is gonna be.”
Sharpe then referenced how he somewhat understands the hype that Bronny is getting due to his dad, as Sharpe himself was hyped up by his older brother Sterling Sharpe throughout his playing days.
“My brother used to say the same thing, telling his college teammates his brother could start here at South Carolina. So I don’t begrudge LeBron for hyping up Bronny because my brother used to hype me.”
It’s tough to criticize LeBron all that much for his praise of Bronny. Naturally, any dad’s first instinct is to praise their son.
That being said, Bronny could certainly benefit from a little less pressure on him. And the constant praise from his dad is only amplifying the spotlight on him.
About Reice Shipley
Reice Shipley is a staff writer for Comeback Media that graduated from Ithaca College with a degree in Sports Media. He previously worked at Barrett Sports Media and is a fan of all things Syracuse sports.